Gurugram home buyers unite to seek stronger RERA in Haryana

GURUGRAM: Homebuyers in the city are not happy with the state government’s decision to let off most ongoing housing projects that have been delayed in its draft rules for establishing the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (Rera).

They have, therefore, come together to discuss their concerns over the draft rules that were made public on April 28.

The Gurgaon Citizens Council, an umbrella body of various resident welfare associations in the city has written to the director of the department of town and country planning (DTCP), asking him not to dilute the effect of Rera with any modification that favours a realtor instead of the homebuyer.

“There seems to be a nexus between the builders and the Haryana government. As per the Haryana Development & Regulation of Urban Areas Act 1975, irrespective of whether partial or full completion certificate is issued to the builder, it is supposed to maintain the area for another five years. But the state government has diluted the effect of Rera with modifications that seem to favour the builder,” said Gurgaon Citizens Council’s president RS Rathee.

Some residents have planned a meeting at Leisure Valley Park on Sunday to discuss their concerns over the proposed draft. Suggestions that come up during the meeting will be documented and submitted to the government.

“The proposed draft in its current form leaves out projects registered before November 2016, which fails a major portion of the homebuyers who have been kept hanging by developers due to the delay in the handover of flats,” said Lt General Bahri (retd), who heads the Federation of Apartments Owners Association.

Rathee said, “We request DTCP to make Rera applicable in Haryana with immediate effect and bring all incomplete projects under ‘as is where is’ condition, whether partial completion certificate has been issued to the builder or not. It is important to note that the liability of the builder is not over by simply taking a partial completion certificate. Even 35 years after some of these builders have been been issued licence by DTCP, they have not completed internal as well as external development work,” he said.

Bahri, on the other hand, said the draft not only leaves out existing projects, but also keeps buyers clueless on multiple issues such as interest payments on delayed possession, which, according to the central act, has to be the same for buyers and builders.

The state government has kept the window open for suggestions on the draft for 15 days. “The draft keeps the projects with occupation certificates out of the purview of Rera, which is not acceptable,” he added.

“Getting an occupation certificate is not enough to be excluded from Rera. Completion certificate should not be the only criteria to be excluded from the ambit of the Rera,” said Gaurav Prakash, a homebuyer in New Gurgaon.

“There are a lot of good things in the draft rules but it does not address some vital issues. For instance, the government says that the builder cannot make more than 15% profit on a project, which the Act does not account for,” said Rajiv Khare, another buyer.

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